


Baker's Dozen

by Philosophizes



Series: SHIELD Classifieds [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-21
Updated: 2014-01-21
Packaged: 2018-01-09 12:32:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1146019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Philosophizes/pseuds/Philosophizes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How May became "The Cavalry", and how Fury became Director.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baker's Dozen

_Baker’s Dozen: an eleven person, two- or three-team operation with the Director in personal command_

_-SHIELD Vocabulary Manual_

* * *

The Bahraini Baker’s Dozen hadn’t been planned as such.

It had looked like this:

Agent Phillip Coulson, in command of Specialists Clinton Barton, “Hawkeye”; Barbara Morse, “Mockingbird”; and Natasha Romanova, “Black Widow”- pursuing a dead-end lead, a trial run for the newly-acquired Black Widow and Hawkeye, to get everyone accustomed to each other.

Specialist Nicholas Johnson, “Fury”, already Specialist Fury to near everyone to distinguish him from his brother, in command of Agents Maria Hill, Jasper Sitwell, and Melinda May- on an Index Asset Evaluation and Intake for one Illyana Nikolievna Rasputina, a young Russian expatriate and confirmed mutant.

Director Tandy Bowen, previously Specialist Tandy Bowen, “Dagger”, in command of Commander Tyrone Johnson, “Cloak”; Specialist Sarah Garza, “Red”; and Agent James Woo- on an assassination mission against one ‘Belasco of the Corrupted’, a probable-mutant with a high power index and a cult following.

But the dead-end lead turned out to be red hot and suddenly Agent Coulson and his Specialists were playing cat-and-mouse with the Winter Soldier through Muharraq; and Illyana refused to be approached and left Manama for Muharraq; and Belasco moved from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain and landed in the International Airport in Muharraq; and suddenly everyone was disastrously crossing paths.

Director Bowen and Specialists Johnson and Fury were stranded in the building with Belasco and his followers, trying to spring Illyana from the man who had apparently been planning this for months. Agents Woo and Sitwell were down; and Agent Coulson had sent Specialists Barton, Romanova, and Garza to keep the Winter Soldier as distracted as possible.

Agents Coulson, Hill, and May and Specialist Morse were pinned down across the street from the building where Belasco had holed in. Hill was keeping Woo and Sitwell as stable as the situation allowed; and Agent Coulson and Specialist Morse were arguing.

“You need to stay out here,” Specialist Morse insisted. This was a terrible situation, and had only gotten worse since the tangle they’d made crossing paths all at once. The only reason the impromptu Baker’s Dozen wasn’t a _total_ loss so far was because Coulson had immediately taken the comms and coordination duties when people started stumbling over each other. “Barton only listens to you and Garza and Black Widow will listen to him-”

“The Director and the Specialists-”

“Would get pissed if you left to get _them_ instead of managing the situation with the Winter Soldier! Stay out here with May and Hill and _I’ll_ go get our people and Rasputina-”

“You can’t go in there by yourself, Morse!” Coulson snapped.

“I can go, sir,” Agent May said.

“Agent May-”

“I can fix it, sir. Let Specialist Morse and I go in. Director Bowen and Specialists Johnson and Fury can handle themselves; but if we can get Rasputina then they can worry about Belasco.”

Agent Hill was the only SHIELD operative in the vicinity ranked higher than Agent Coulson, and they carried on an entire _junior-agent-but-Morse-is-good_ conversation with one look.

“Fine,” Coulson said. “Specialist Morse, keep Agent May and Illyana Rasputina in one piece.”

They had run for it, and Specialist Morse had gone down to- _something_ just outside the door.

 _“Agent May!”_   Coulson yelled. She was _not_ supposed to go in alone, it was time to abort. _“Agent May! Retreat!”_

Melinda May spared one backward glance before diving into the building.

* * *

Specialist Fury came out the door an hour later, after Barton had called in to say Black Widow had gone one-on-one with the Winter Soldier while he covered Specialist Garza, and both of them were going to need medical attention along with their pick-up. The Winter Soldier himself had disappeared into Muharraq after he’d retaliated to the way Black Widow had knocked him around and left her with a fractured hip and jaw.

Specialist Morse, who had been plowing through her injuries to take anyone coming out, nearly took him down. Only the sudden registration of the bodies of Director Bowen and Specialist Johnson, and Specialist Fury’s sunken eyelid, sealed shut with drying blood and fluid, made her pause.

The building had been quiet on the outside, the occasional sound of gunfire and _whatever_ Belasco did focused inwards since Agent May had infiltrated. Agent Coulson dashed across the road to help pull them all to the rest of the group.

“The fuck happened here, Coulson?” he said muzzily as his friend laid him back carefully against a dented car.

“A major screw-up, Fury,” he replied quietly. He glanced over at Director Bowen and Specialist Johnson, laid out of the sidewalk. “I’m sorry about your brother. We’ve got extraction and back-up coming.”

“Barton and Romanova and Garza?”

“Barton called in extraction with medical attention. Garza went down, Barton covered her, Romanova went toe-to-toe with the Winter Soldier. We still lost him- Director.”

Fury closed his remaining eye, not wanting to look at his dead brother and basically-sister any longer.

“I am, aren’t I? Be my Commander, Coulson. You’re good at this.”

“Rather not, sir,” Coulson said firmly. “I like my people and I work well small. Take Maria. She’ll do well up front.”

“ _Someday,_ Phil, I will get you the position you damn well deserve; and SHIELD will never have anything like this shithole of a situation ever again.”

Across the street, the door to the building slammed open. Coulson, Hill, and Morse looked up.

Melinda May stalked out, towing a half-conscious Illyana Rasputina. Coulson got one look at her face and his own fell.

“Nick,” Phil said quietly. “What happened in there?”

“Belasco got Tandy and Tyrone. Illyana got Belasco. Then Agent May,” Fury managed before he passed out completely. “Came in like the goddamn cavalry.”


End file.
